Checking in with Napalm Gagne

OK, let's take a good look at the photo below. You might remember this cat:

APPrepare all ye schadenfreude, Sox fans.

Yeah, sorry about that. He terrifies me, too. In fact, I'd venture to guess that if Theo Epstein had brought Eric Gagne back at any price, he'd have been tarred and feathered and hung from the Pesky Pole for good measure.

In any event, all of this brings me to what I found a rather startling revelation: The Milwaukee Brewers, Gagne's new employer, already have him penciled for regular work this season. In fact, he's currently their closer.

Gagne, who split the 2007 season between the Rangers and the Red Sox, can work into his groove at a pace of his own. Nobody's looking at his outings here and dissecting them under a microscope. His job is to close ballgames for the Brewers -- but ballgames that matter, not Cactus League games.

He's been using those games to prep himself for the real thing -- one inning at a time.